{"id":10653,"date":"2024-12-11T11:30:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T11:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/?p=10653"},"modified":"2024-12-11T11:30:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T11:30:35","slug":"unpaid-carers-face-severe-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/unpaid-carers-face-severe-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Unpaid Carers Face Severe Penalties for Carer\u2019s Allowance Overpayments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unpaid carers<\/strong> across the UK have been hit hard by stringent penalties for overpayments<\/strong> under the carer\u2019s allowance<\/strong> system, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO)<\/strong>. This issue has caused widespread financial<\/strong> and emotional distress<\/strong> among carers, exposing significant flaws in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)<\/strong> processes.<\/p>\n

Scale of the Penalties and Financial Impact<\/h2>\n

An alarming 262,000 overpayments<\/strong>, totaling more than \u00a3325 million<\/strong>, have been reclaimed from carers over the past five years. These overpayments often resulted from minor infractions, such as exceeding strict earnings limits<\/strong> by a small margin. For instance, carers earning just \u00a31 over<\/strong> the \u00a3151 weekly threshold<\/strong> for a year could face repayments of over \u00a34,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n